A warm welcome to our prospective parents

Choosing a primary school for your child is an important decision. You will want to know how your child will be looked after; how they will spend their day; what will they learn and how as individuals will they be encouraged to do everything to the best of their abilities. We know if you entrust your child to our care that they will become part of a happy, nurturing and successful school. So why choose Dunmow St Mary’s?

We believe your child’s reception year provides a crucial opportunity for ensuring that they enjoy coming to school and develop a lifetime love of learning. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum you may already be familiar with from your pre-school or nursery setting. We add to this daily ‘letters and sounds’; ‘speedy maths’ and ‘talk for writing’ sessions as well as continual opportunities for small groups to work with the teacher on specific skills. Children are encouraged to lead in their own learning by accessing resources inside or in our large vibrant outdoor classroom with limitless opportunities for experimentation, creativity and self-directed play.

We believe that values need to be more than just written on a website and we know if you visit our school and talk to current members of our school community that they will tell you that our children and staff ensure that they embody our values of integrity, nurture, creativity, success and individuality in their every action. With these values underpinning the ethos of our school we believe that there is no limit to what our children can achieve.

We want our children to develop into responsible and valuable members of society. Meeting new classmates and developing friendships helps the children learn how to be part of a group. By participating in assemblies and collective worship they gain a sense of being part of the school community. Through collaboration with our local church, exploring our local town and working with local businesses they start to build relationships with their local community. Learning about British values, democracy, the environment, other countries and cultures as well as being involved in fundraising for others less fortunate than themselves, our children gain an understanding of their place in the world and the difference they can make to it.

The focus in our classrooms is on enjoyment and achievement. We encourage a growth mind set so that mistakes are seen as a pathway to new learning and an unknown skill is merely not known yet. Our creative curriculum is well-respected and every child is given the opportunity to develop independent learning skills through first-hand experience and enquiry. Our children are taught that they can achieve anything they set their minds to. They learn while becoming bakers, potters, artists, explorers, investigators, detectives, archaeologists, conservationists, researchers, scientists, musicians, athletes and authors.

Have the children had their eyes opened to the world around them? Have they developed a sense of self-esteem and self-worth that will carry them through the challenges of secondary school and beyond? Have they been given the opportunity to try a huge variety of sporting activities and represent their school at district or county competitions? Has their individual love for art or music or sport or maths or writing been nurtured? Do they leave us confident, active members of the local community? These are the results we both aim for and achieve.

But don’t take our word for it take a look at our online prospectus. Visit our year group pages to get an overview of what the children are learning. Come and meet us and our children. See for yourself.

Parents of children born during the period 1st September 2014 to 31st August 2015 will be able to apply from November 2018 to start school in September 2019.

Our open events are being held on the following dates:

Tuesday 13th November at 9.15 am – tour of the school followed by a play and story session

Thursday 6th December at 9.15 am – headteacher’s talk and tour of the school

If you would like to book on one of our tours please contact us on 01371 872340.